Stallmanism is a compatible extension of atheism. Atheism is a step on the road to Enlightenment, a rejection of legacy religions, imaginary friends, telepathy, and pixies. Stallmanism takes this a step further and says that we, humans, fully define Heaven and Hell, through the adoption of an appropriate social contract.

Why is the GPL so important?

A True Believer does not question the sacred texts, but if you really insist, it's because the GPL defines an evolving social contract that eliminates friction in the digital society and economy, promotes universal access to knowledge, and thus enables the inevitable emergence of a global human super-consciousness, which Stallmanists recognize as "God".

Given that patent wars are grinding innovation to a halt -- at least sucking an increasingly larger amount of money out of innovation, the GPL doesn't seem so bad. (Unless you're Steve Jobs and wondering how to take all those billions with you.)

I always used to think the concept behind Heinlein's Fosterite Church of the New Revelation (and their football rally approach to worship) was a pretty funny bit of literary invention. Or did until I started cruising the cable channels one quiet Sunday afternoon.